Rant: That simple flange repair on a feedwater heater turned into a two day job

Honestly, I thought swapping out a cracked flange on a unit at the plant would take maybe 4 hours tops. The bolts were seized solid, so I spent a whole afternoon just getting three of them out without snapping them. Ended up having to drill out the last two, which took another morning because the access was terrible. Has anyone found a good penetrating oil that actually works on stuff that's been cooking for 20 years?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesleyl5329d ago

Heard a buddy had a similar mess with a heat exchanger last month. Said he ended up using a mix of acetone and ATF on the bolts after everything else failed. Worked okay, but still took forever.

jessica_cooper3726d ago

My uncle swears by a 60/40 mix of acetone and brake fluid for seized trailer hitch bolts. He lets it sit overnight, then hits them with a torch for a few seconds before trying the wrench. Claims it works nine times out of ten.

rosebarnes28d ago

What ratio did he use? I've heard 50/50 acetone and ATF is the magic home brew, but you gotta soak it for like a full day. Still beats snapping a bolt off in the block though.